Holiday Inn Express - Times Square, an IHG Hotel in New York

Where do I even start.

This hotel is 36 floors with ONE elevator bank (two elevators total), and that alone completely ruins the entire experience. We were placed on the 28th floor, which basically meant planning our entire day around elevator availability. Want breakfast? Good luck. Want to check out on time? Start praying at 9am.

Breakfast is on the first floor, and if you’re staying above the 3rd floor, you will wait at least 20 minutes for an elevator—sometimes longer—because everyone is trying to do the same thing. There’s a sign inside the elevator that says “6 person maximum”, which is honestly a joke. That’s essentially one family…maybe two people with luggage. Multiply that by 36 floors and you get chaos.

Checkout is at 11am, but realistically you need to start checking out by 9am if you want any chance of making it downstairs on time. Otherwise, enjoy standing in a hallway watching full elevators pass you over and over again.

Oh—and the vending machine on the 26th floor? Completely empty. I’ll be attaching a photo because it perfectly represents the effort level here.

Our key cards malfunctioned multiple times, forcing us to go back to the front desk to “reactivate” them. That wouldn’t be terrible…IF THERE WERE MORE ELEVATORS. But nope. Every trip to the lobby is a commitment. Bring snacks. Maybe a chair.

The only time elevators are usable is between 11pm–5am when traffic is low. Unfortunately, that’s also when you’ll encounter large groups of homeless individuals outside the hotel, being aggressively approached while trying to walk back late at night. So your options are:
• stay inside and wait forever
• or go outside and feel unsafe

Great choices.

I understand this is New York and you’re not supposed to spend all day in the hotel—but this is the worst hotel experience I have ever had, and I’ve stayed in motels that operate better than this place. I truly believe any hotel or motel would beat this experience.

If you see positive reviews, I can almost guarantee those guests stayed on floors 1–3, because the experience is entirely different when you don’t have to fight for an elevator and miss shows, plays, reservations, and events even when you left early.

I won’t be reaching out for a refund. I stayed, I dealt with it, and I know it won’t change anything. What might help is less auto-generated responses from a GM who clearly doesn’t visit this property—because if they did, this situation wouldn’t exist.

It’s honestly a disgrace to have a Holiday Inn sign on this building.

Happy holidays. I now understand why the staff seems exhausted and irritated—the place is a dump, and morale clearly matches it.

Good luck if you don’t listen to this review like I didn’t listen to the others and still decide to book here.

Our room was much smaller and much dingier than photos. The biggest issues; however, were:
1. My side of the bed smelled like urine on and off but I thought I was imagining it. One morning the fitted sheet and mattress pad popped off my side of the bed revealing yellow and reddish stains. Absolutely disgusting and an absolute health risk. I reported it and I was offered new sheets. Not a new room, not a new mattress. New sheets to just re-cover the filth.
2. This hotel has 36 floors and only 2 elevators that their own signs say. An only hold 6 people each. So, 12 people at a time can use the elevator. And at times, one of the elevators was out of order on Thanksgiving weekend. We waited a minimum of 15 minutes to get on the only working elevator and one time there was a line so long in the lobby that it took us 40 minutes to get on the elevator. We were on the 30th floor and I had a sprained ankle so stairs were not an option.
3. The free breakfast had practically no options for somebody with celiac disease. Many hotels suffer from this problem, it’s not unique, but staff couldn’t find ingredient lists for me to check on the one item that might have been safe (the sausage) and without verification I have to assume it’s not safe.

I will say the location is convenient if you need to be in the Times Square and Broadway area. It’s anywhere from 8-30 minute walk depending on your target attraction.

But location does not make up for the exorbitant price (over $300/night) for sleeping on a filthy mattress (I purchased several items on my own to protect us like mattress protection etc to sleep on) and having to plan around 10-30 minute wait times for the elevator.

There are plenty of other discount hotels literally next door and on the same block. Stay there. Avoid this. It’s just gross and inconvenient. And the staff don’t seem to care (a few staff were kind which is why I gave 2 stars).

DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT stay in this sorry hotel. This is a 36 story hotel with only 1 elevator working. You will have to wait about half an hour for the elevator. I ended having to call front desk. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. The a/c is not working, and you have to request a refrigerator for your medication. To top it off, they charged me 3 times for the deposit because they kept saying it was declined when I showed them all 3 times it went through. If I could give them a NO Star I would.

Edit: This happened just before checkout:

On the morning of our checkout day, November 8, 2025, we went out for some last-minute sightseeing. When we returned to the hotel to check out, none of the elevators were working. The only way to reach our room was by climbing 32 flights of stairs to retrieve our luggage.

After climbing all the way up, I found that my key no longer worked. I had to call the front desk from my cell phone, and they told me someone would come assist. No one ever showed up. After waiting, my friend eventually found a housekeeper on a higher floor who was able to unlock the door for me about 15 minutes later.

My friend helped me carry the bags down while my wife waited for us downstairs. To be honest, after climbing that many flights of stairs and then carrying luggage down, I genuinely felt like I was going to pass out and feared I might miss my cruise.

As I was leaving, I saw elderly guests stranded on higher floors with heavy luggage and no assistance. I do not know what happened to them, but the situation could have become an emergency. In a high-rise hotel, having zero working elevators is a serious safety hazard. I believe the fire department should have been contacted, as this was an unsafe and unacceptable situation.

Because of this experience, I will never recommend any Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express to anyone.